


the fool's mate

by syubsoob



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Chess, Chess Prodigy AU, Existential Angst, Friends to Lovers, Kang Taehyun-Centric, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Taemin fanboy Kang Taehyun was the blueprint, alternative title: Taehyun played himself badumtsssss, bickering yeonbin makes an appearance, except Yeonjun bc he’d love that shit tbh, excuse the lack of actual chess scenes here lmao, less slow burn and more like the author trying to light a fire with wet wood and some lint, literally googled chess pick-up lines to get this title I’m sorry to all of you, my contribution to the taejun agenda, the angst is life angst and not romantic angst lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27667940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syubsoob/pseuds/syubsoob
Summary: The Fool's Mate is the fastest way to checkmate your opponent in the game of chess. This rare form of checkmate can occur when the White player makes two ill-advised mistakes.Kang Taehyun becomes a national celebrity practically overnight, becoming South Korea’s first chess prodigy since, well, ever. His new found fame gets him on the radar of his role model, newly minted chess Grandmaster Yeonjun "Daniel" Choi, who inexplicably takes Taehyun under his wing. Taehyun’s first mistake is going along with it; his second is falling in love with him.Taehyun falls in love in six years and six snapshots.
Relationships: Choi Yeonjun/Kang Taehyun
Comments: 17
Kudos: 90
Collections: txt fic fest





	the fool's mate

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: So I initially capped this at 3.5k words and five snapshots to make it on time for [the txt fic fest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/txtficfest) deadline, but Chess Rivals AU Taejun refused to leave my brain until all the worldbuilding I actually made got written, so... have an extra 5k words as a treat? If you've already read it, I recommend re-reading! (I'm so sorry for the way that I am.) I've added more of their text conversations, there's a whole new year/snapshot, and some existing details have been changed or clarified. Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Also, I'm so happy people have liked it so far! Depends on my own personal timing, but I'd love to continue this AU as a series! A ~*Summer of Love*~ chapter may or may not be in the works......

**2015**

Kang Taehyun Named South Korea’s First International Master at Age 13 —  The Korea Herald

Daniel Choi Becomes USA’s Newest Youngest Grandmaster at World Youth Chess Championship —  CNN

Get Ready with Chess Prodigy and International It-Boy Daniel Choi! —  Seventeen Magazine

Daniel Choi to be Second Grandmaster of Korean Descent Since 2004 —  NBC Asian America

Chess Superstars of Korean Descent Make Waves Worldwide —  Arirang News

*

**SUMMER|JULY**

“Kang Taehyun, your pictures came out really well!” he hears his older sister coo from his right as she mindlessly scrolls through Naver on her laptop.

Taehyun barely takes his eyes away from his own laptop screen to glance at his blown-up picture in question. Seeing his large youthful smile plastered all over the Naver page makes him ill; he only started his first year of middle school a few months ago and every student has learned his name by now, even his seniors. He looks back to his own screen for comfort: the familiar pixelated black and white chess pieces look absolutely ugly on the garish green background color of the game simulation website, but nonetheless it’s more soothing than looking at his own smiling face on the internet.

“Of course my pictures came out good: we’re a good-looking family,” he mutters as he finally clicks on the queen. The word “checkmate” blinks in bright red; satisfied, Taehyun finally looks up at his sister’s face only to regret it immediately.

“You know,” his sister’s shit-eating grin is now stretching wide, “Daniel-ssi’s pictures also came out well. But you probably already know that.”

He groans, because he’s only thirteen and he isn’t 100% sure what Soohyun’s getting at here, but he already knows he should be somewhat tired of his older sister’s shit.

The first time Kang Taehyun had watched Daniel Choi play chess, he had been nine years old and hungry for everything and anything chess. When he was five, Taehyun had been sat down in front of a chess board by his uncle without a second thought. But then Taehyun had devoured the game for weeks afterwards, going so far as to start playing himself on the board when everyone around him either lost interest (his sister) or couldn’t beat him (his mom). He finally begged his family to be put in clubs, only to go on to totally (and accidentally) decimate his neighborhood’s chess scene by the age of seven.

Daniel Choi, however, had been the progeny of a family dynasty of internationally ranked baduk players that married into a Korean-American chess family. Daniel’s YouTube channel, one that he had created after getting his FIDE Master ranking a few years ago, had been incredibly helpful to a chess-starved Taehyun whose resources he was rapidly surpassing. Taehyun had pored over those YouTube videos in any way he could, virtually learning strategy, technique, and knowledge that wasn’t available in South Korea like it might have been in Europe, or even the United States.

Taehyun’s family had thought his little crush was cute, when he was nine and young and had begged (pleaded) for a Daniel Choi autographed winning game shot photo selling on Gmarket for his birthday.

But at least the Daniel Choi of back then had been twelve, with an earnest smile, a deep tan, and clunky glasses. The Daniel Choi of now is fifteen, a little tall and gangly as teenage boys often are, but a little heart-fluttering in flattering suits, oversized glasses, and pierced ears in a way that teenage boys usually are not. (Not that Taehyun’s heart is fluttering or anything. Or that he notices any of that other stuff. At all. Maybe. Whatever.)

“Daniel-ssi’s really cute now, isn’t he, Tyunnie?” Soohyun asks with a wink.

Taehyun rolls his eyes again, but the heart pounding wildly in his chest betrays him. He doesn’t like the new fame of becoming South Korea’s first ever IM, nor the feeling of being like a magpie’s shiny new thing, a fresh chess prodigy to be passed around to admire. But he knows he’s definitely one step closer to facing Daniel Choi one day, on the big stage. It might just be a little worth it.

* * *

**2016**

Kang Taehyun First South Korean Contender at World Youth Chess Championship in California —  Korea JoongAng Daily

Daniel Choi is a Chess Grandmaster, Not Just Your It-Boy: ‘I live off the thrill of my competition’ —  Teen Vogue

Kang Taehyun and Choi Yeonjun’s visuals are no joke… Are they chess players or are they idols? —  Naver Blog Community

How Daniel Choi’s Hip-Hop Crew Helps Him Play Better Chess —  The Korea Times

**

**SUMMER|AUGUST**

Taehyun makes a face at his very sad yogurt bowl, homesickness settling into his ribs just as heavily as the burn of the Palm Springs sun beating down on everyone at this godforsaken convention center. It’s not his first rodeo at an international competition, but it is his first one with a complete stranger and not his mom as a chaperone, which has meant awkward breakfasts by himself for the past two days.

A shadow briefly falls over his food; he hears the bright English above him that slurs together in its speed. He sighs, already trying to practice the words, “Sorry, I’m still learning English. Can you say that again slower?”

Before Taehyun can though, a familiar laugh fills the air above his head and a voice he knows quite well (no… freaking… way?) says, “Sorry, would asking you in Korean be better?”

Taehyun turns around only to see Daniel Choi, like, _the_ Daniel Choi, literally the chess world’s golden boy, standing above Taehyun, peering down into his face.

“Kang Taehyun-ssi, right?” Daniel just plows on through, unaware of Taehyun’s internal turmoil. “Uh, sorry, I know Korean but I usually just speak really casually to my family and my stepbrother. Would it be weird to drop formalities?”

Daniel’s smile is just as soft as it is on his YouTube channel, and Taehyun feels like he’s either about to pee his pants or start crying. “Uhm… that’s fine,” Taehyun hears himself say. “I don’t mind if you speak casually to me, Choi Daniel-ssi.”

Daniel smiles wider, taking a seat next to him as he says, “Ok, well, same for you then. Yeonjun-hyung is good, if that’s cool with you? That’s what my stepbrother calls me.”

“Kai calls you Yeonjun-hyung? Not Daniel-hyung?” Taehyun’s brain-to-mouth filter evaporates in his surprise. Goddammit.

“I mean,” Taehyun swallows, inwardly panicking at the look of taken aback shock on Yeonjun’s face, “I watched your 'Get Ready with Me' video that _Seventeen_ did on you?”

Taehyun shrugs, trying to ignore the tell-tale burn in the tips of his ears and dial back of what he’s sure is his current level of Completely Lovesick and Totally Earnest. “Uh, Kai showed up for a lot of it, so I… obviously remembered him,” he keeps his voice level as clearly as he can.

Yeonjun’s face is at least now a look of more relaxed surprise instead of fear-based shock (score?) before he smirks slowly (damn, ok, not score). “You’ve watched those YouTube videos of me? Are you a fan of me, Taehyun-ssi?” Yeonjun practically coos.

“You work harder than God,” Taehyun deadpans as his brain short-circuits looking for an answer.

There’s a shocked pause before Yeonjun’s face brilliantly lights up in the biggest grin Taehyun’s ever seen on him. “Holy shit, you’re hilarious. Relax, I was just kidding. You’re not the only one who was doing research on the new competition, you know?”

Yeonjun cradles his own face in one of his hands as he leans forward conspiratorially, his grin absolutely predatory. Taehyun, on the other hand, tries his very best to breathe as calmly as he can in the most inconspicuous way possible. “I’ve watched all your interviews too, you know,” Yeonjun tries to wink, but both of his eyes close.

The way his idol manages to be both simultaneously cool and uncool in real life leaves Taehyun actually speechless, but he still files away Yeonjun’s failed wink in his mind to think about on loop later.

“You saw interviews? But no American media contacted me…?” Taehyun asks instead.

“Your Korean fans ripped them from Naver to make edits on YouTube!” Yeonjun grins. “Very sweet of them, made it super easy for me. But of course I was gonna look you up! Not every day a chess prodigy comes out of South Korea, especially one that’s as handsome as me. Anyway, I saw the interview where you said you used to watch my videos to learn chess strategy. That’s so cool! And now we’re at the same competition? Full circle. That’s some fate stuff, so I knew I had to find you to exchange numbers before the competition ended.

“So, Taehyun-ssi,” Yeonjun says, face scrunching up as he digs around in a large tote bag looped on the edge of his chair. “You wanna add me on Kakaotalk?”

“Sure, hyungnim,” Taehyun’s mouth answers on autopilot, as he tries to take Yeonjun’s (Choi Yeonjun’s?!) phone from him without his own hands trembling too hard.

Holy shit. Soohyun-noona was never gonna believe this.

—

** Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi  
  
** btw you’re like, really handsome for a middle schooler  
  


Thanks. I see what’s important to you, hyungnim.  
  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi**

just calling it like I see it, you know??  
  
and you’re a seriously cool kid

you got bronze in the U14 division???? hello?  


  
Thank you hyungnim, but you literally got silver  
in the U16 division against one of the most talented  
chess prodigies in the world.

I think that’s more impressive in the grand  
scheme of things.  
  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi**

dude, stop for a sec

Korea literally has NO chess infrastructure  
whatsoever

the fact that you learned chess strategy through  
mostly 65% YouTube videos is incredibly  
impressive

anyway you’re cool

I like you

let’s be friends!!

  
Oh wow. Uh… Thank you so much, hyungnim.

Of course I’d like to be friends.

Actually, I’ve been wondering this all weekend,  
but your texts really confirm it. You’re way more…  
chill than I  thought you’d be. As both a competitor  
and as a hyung. It doesn’t bother you that I’m three  
years younger than you?  
  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi**

nah, you’re the same age as my little bro!

and he’s like my bff

you should be my other new bff

but only if you want~

it’ll be nice to have another Korean on the  
international chess circuit too~~

  
…I’d like that a lot. Please take good care of me,  
Yeonjun-hyungnim.  
  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi**

ofc I’ll take care of you, you cutie <3  


take care of me too <3 <3

  
I’ll do what I can.

* * *

**2017**

Chess Olympiad Defending Champion Kang Taehyun on Student Life at Seoul Foreign Language High School:  
‘I wanted to do a curriculum that would support my dream’ – Naver  


Omg!!! I think I saw Kang Taehyun and Choi Yeonjun with their friend at a raccoon cafe???  
They were so handsome in real life, I think I’m gonna die  **ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ** \- Naver Blog Community  


Chess Champions Daniel Choi and Taehyun Kang are the Internet’s Newest Bromance and Their Friendship is Adorable – Buzzfeed

*

**SPRING|MARCH**

** Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi **

congrats on passing the entrance exam and getting  
into SFL!!!

my beloved dongsaeng is so smart WOWWWW  
  


Haha, thanks hyungnim. I figured this was a  
good thing.

It’ll be a little harder to keep up with I think, but  
I’ll be able to work on my English as I study so  
it’ll be extra efficient.  
  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi**

lmao talk abt working harder than god

also why are you up lol

isn’t it like 3am KST??

go to sleep you’re a growing boy </3

last night Kai wanted to sleepover in my room in a  
pillow fort bc he’s a giant puppy lol

I thought we were gonna stay up talking but  
he literally passed out at like 11:30pm 

be like Kai

maybe if you do you can catch up to him in height  
;)

  
…You’re lucky I’m not there in person.

Kai’s only like 4 cm taller than me? I’m sure I can  
catch up?

Next time, send me a picture of him sleeping if you  
manage not to wake him up. I need blackmail too.

And… I can’t. It’s hard to fall asleep. I’ve never been  
good at turning my brain off at night. It’s just always  
been that way.  
  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi**

hmm… well with the time difference

you wouldn’t inconvenience me

you could dump your brain here so you  
could get some sleep

  
…That’s really kind of you, hyungnim.

Won’t your trainer be annoyed that you’re wasting  
part of your training time talking to me, though?  
  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-ssi**

………WOW

TALKING TO YOU ISN’T A WASTE OF TIME,  
GOT IT?

I know you have me saved in your phone as  
Grandmaster  Choi Yeonjun-ssi

and I’ve told you multiple times now to call me  
hyung comfortably  so I don’t know why I’m still  
saved that way but anyway

I keep telling you

I want to be good friends!

close friends! 

think of me as your cool, sexy, handsome  
friend-like hyung

  
…a friend-like hyung, got it.  


**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-hyung**

>:(

But I really do appreciate it, hyung. And…  
good friends sounds nice. I’ll try my best.

Actually, talking to you was helpful. I think I can go  
to sleep soon? I won’t do a “brain dump” tonight after  
all because Idon’t think I need it… but maybe later?  
Another time?

**Chess Grandmaster Choi Yeonjun-hyung**

ofc 

I said I wanted to be close friends right

I got you any time

trust in hyung tyunnie~

sleep well

Goodnight, hyung.

  
  


**SUMMER|JULY**

A year ago, Taehyun had exchanged numbers with Daniel Choi and had thought, “Well, that was really nice of him” and had envisioned their relationship to become an endless back-and-forth of making polite small talk at international competitions. 

Taehyun had basically turned into a chess-obsessed hermit trying to rank up to IM back in primary school, and for the sake of well, mostly his parents, Taehyun had taken a step back the past two years to “enjoy” middle school and prepare for high school. He was still young enough to play chess in juniors and did so, representing South Korea in U16 brackets internationally and getting enough games in (and winning them) to keep his IM ranking afloat. Attending school regularly was a feat in itself and Taehyun knew that well. (Contrary to the interviews that constantly depicted Taehyun as always on the chess grind, Taehyun really didn’t have an early death wish.)

But Taehyun also knew that Choi Yeonjun—a U.S. Grandmaster whose rating was already in the 2600 range—would probably not overlap often with the competitions Taehyun would be at; it was highly likely that their newfound friendship would probably not progress past niceties. And even the most buried piece of Taehyun, the Taehyun that still kept his autographed picture of Daniel Choi as a bookmark in his textbook of chess techniques, had made peace with that kind of reality.

What Taehyun hadn’t accounted for though, was how motherfucking driven Choi Yeonjun could be. Choi Yeonjun lived the way he played chess: passionately, relentlessly, a little emotionally, and as magnetically as possible. He was charismatic, fashionable, well-mannered, and craved the spotlight in a way other chess prodigies definitely did not. While it didn’t make Yeonjun hated in the chess world, it definitely earned him a reputation: the untouchable, golden it-boy for a sport not known for the flamboyance of its top stars.

And when Taehyun and Yeonjun _had_ overlapped at competitions, Yeonjun always made it a point to scout Taehyun out and then keep his more stoic and even-keeled junior by his side, introducing Taehyun to senior players and folding him into their post-game conversations. Thankfully, no one was awful about their new dynamic. Competitors found it curious or amusing mostly, their it-boy now part of what looked like a spontaneous package deal of opposites. (Soohyun-noona, who played Taehyun’s chaperone from time to time, found it fucking hilarious on Taehyun’s behalf; his mom thought it very sweet for a hyung to be so caring.)

But even when those competitions were over (they were, after all, once every few months) and Taehyun couldn’t see Yeonjun in the flesh, Yeonjun was just as relentless about keep their friendship alive online. His hyung was always sharing pictures. Spontaneous selfies with Kai, their dog literally doing… anything, newly learned yoga poses, practice chess games with his dad (a retired IM himself) and practice baduk games with his grandpa (active and still internationally ranked). Mountains of texts ranged from links to Kai’s new favorite song to reminders for Taehyun to sleep more. Naturally, their online interactions extended to chess too: Yeonjun was always inviting him to blitz matches online when it fit into his training schedule. (Speed games weren’t really Taehyun’s favorite, nor were they in his comfort zone, but it was a chance to play with Yeonjun, so… yeah.)

One day, about four-and-a-half months into Taehyun’s new normal, Yeonjun had video called him out of the blue while Taehyun was doing homework, and Taehyun’s sleep-deprived brain had decided to black out and answer the call. But before Yeonjun could even say anything, Kai’s voice suddenly rang out, “Sorry hyung, I want to meet your new best friend first! Hi, I’m Kai! I heard you’re my age! Whoa, your eyes are so big? They’re so pretty! Wow! Mom, look, Taehyunnie-hyung picked up!”

The Choi family had then proceeded to snatch the phone to say hi to Taehyun individually; even his grandfather had taken his eyes off his online baduk game to grunt in satoori, “It’s nice Yeonjunie finally has a Korean friend to play with” and wave bye with a half-salute, half-wave of his hand. Taehyun had been so overwhelmed by them that he had walked out into the living room in a daze to introduce them to his family too. It was only after the call finally ended that Taehyun had realized they had been doing group face masks during a re-run of _Immortal Songs II_.

And while it was always going to be kind of overwhelming, Taehyun had appreciated that, for as relentless as Yeonjun was, he always gauged Taehyun’s capacity first: “What do you want to do? Would you want to do this? Wanna join? Let’s play!”

But where the two of them were now? Absolutely ridiculous. Just officially absurd.

Because Taehyun was now sharing a table in a raccoon cafe on the outskirts of Seoul with Choi Yeonjun, one of the States’ rising chess stars, and being tiredly stared down by his high school sunbae, Choi Soobin, who’d spent his 15-minute break sitting with the chess players and becoming more bewildered by them by the minute.

“So why’d you pick a raccoon cafe to hang out? Are you a fan of raccoons or something and you just didn’t tell me?” Yeonjun chews on the straw of his empty milkshake. Taehyun does his absolute best not to stare.

“Not… really? It’s just that Soobin-sunbaenim owes me, and this is where he works and he said it was OK if I take you here–”

“Oooooohhhhh,” Yeonjun crows, wagging his eyebrows at Soobin, who’s suddenly taking very measured blinks. Unfortunately, Taehyun knows this is just a cover for Soobin wanting to roll his eyes. 

“Soobin-ssi owes you, Taehyunnie? Yooooo, Kang Taehyun, you’re getting cooler and cooler ever time we meet up, you know? What’d you do? You bet on something? Did you win?” Yeonjun grins wolfishly and slings his left arm around Taehyun’s shoulders. Taehyun pivots microscopically, praying that Yeonjun’s left hand hadn’t grazed his heart and felt how loud it was beating in his chest.

“It was a favor,” Soobin scoffs, laughing. “He tutored me. I got into the Top 10 in my class for Calculus because of him.”

Taehyun instinctively schools his face and tries to play it as a mix of humble and indifferent, but then he remembers he’s talking to Choi Yeonjun and immediately straightens up a little in pride instead. If the changed posture makes Yeonjun softly smile and Soobin roll his own eyes in exasperation, Taehyun pretends not to notice. 

“Because I helped sunbaenim in math,” Taehyun says, “I get as many free ice cream milkshakes that I want for the next month.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Yeonjun’s smile turns absolutely wicked. “ _That's_ why we’ve been getting unlimited milkshakes today?”

Soobin’s proud sunbae smile immediately morphs into something more sarcastic, and Taehyun knows his sunbae is itching to facepalm. “Did you think I was just giving them to you for free?”

“Well, I don’t know! Taehyun said it was his treat, and not to worry about it, so— WAIT. Could Taehyun and I get a mint choco shake next then? If Taehyun hasn’t been paying for it?”

“Choi Yeonjun-ssi, if I may, you’ve had three milkshakes already, since you basically drank most of Taehyun’s first one.”

“Hey! I’m a professional athlete, it’s my cheat day, and I need the calories.”

“You play chess, not football?”

“And part of my daily training for chess is a five-mile run, cardio or weights, at least an hour of dance practice, an hour of pilates, and some light meditation and yoga. So. One mint choco milkshake, please, Soobin-ssi?” Yeonjun waggles his eyebrows again with a grin.

Soobin hesitates and squints hard at Yeonjun from across the table, and Taehyun’s stomach drops, fearing he may _actually_ need to physically step in at some point, only for Soobin to get up, slowly nodding after he finished... whatever he was assessing of Yeonjun. He disappears through a STAFF ONLY door leading to the back and Taehyun thinks he’s in the clear before he hears, “Taehyun, you’re tutoring me next semester too!”

Ah, well. That was still kind of a win, so Taehyun’ll take it.

Taehyun sighs. “Soobin-sunbaenim literally eats ice cream almost every day after band practice, so don’t feel bad about your sweet tooth, Yeonjun-hyung.”

“I’m not lying though?” Yeonjun looks back at Taehyun. “I mean, I’m no Carlsen or Caruana, but I’m still ranked #134 in the world and I need to take care of my body. That’s my real training sch—? …Nah, I think I dance a little over an hour a day, actually? But that’s my real training schedule!”

Taehyun’s brown wrinkles in confusion. “Do you need to train like that to become a Grandmaster?”

“…Are you telling me you’re not doing physical training right now at all?”

“Uh… no? I’m not?”

Yeonjun stares searchingly into Taehyun’s face and Taehyun feels himself freeze up from the attention until Yeonjun gives him another soft smile. “You’re really impressive, Tyun, do you know that?”

Soobin snorts loudly, causing the other two in the booth in jump, right as the part-timer slides a light green milkshake with a mountain of whipped cream towards Yeonjun. “Taehyun’s also top of his class at SFL, would’ve been elected class president if he hadn’t withdrawn from the nomination, joined the baduk club to ‘gain more chess strategy’, and half the girls in his class secretly want to confess to him.”

Soobin takes out two straws from his apron, slips them into the whipped cream, makes a half-assed wave towards the dessert and deadpans, “Enjoy your milkshake,” before heading towards the back room again and yelling, “And make sure you don’t take any food in to see the raccoons! That’s not allowed!”

Yeonjun stares for an indefinite amount of time at the two straws in the milkshake before he turns to crack a shy smile at Taehyun; Taehyun immediately feels his heart betray him again. “Did he just say you joined the baduk club?” his hyung asks.

—

** Choi Soobin-sunbaenim **

Ugh, you told me I was treating you to free  
milkshakes

I never agreed to chaperoning you on your date

If you ever take him here again, I’m making both  
of you sit outside

It wasn’t a date though?

?????? The cafe doesn’t even have outdoor seating?

**Choi Soobin-sunbaenim**

Well then, file all my complaints with Choi  
“Heart Eyes” Yeonjun

“You’re really impressive, Tyun”

Omg I cringed so hard that I got goosebumps!!

He doesn’t have heart eyes! He’s just… unique.

And I AM impressive? Didn’t you also list out all the  
shit that I do because I AM ACTUALLY IMPRESSIVE?

Also, none of the girls in my grade want to confess  
to me either. They literally walk in the other direction  
when they see me coming.

**Choi Soobin-sunbaenim**

Oh my god, you’re hopeless???

?????? Why does that make me hopeless?

I don’t want them to confess to me anyway???

**Choi Soobin-sunbaenim**

bc you want Heart Eyes to confess to you first??

…Keep it up, and I won’t tutor you next semester, sunbaenim.

**Choi Soobin-sunbaenim**

WAIT NO!!!

I REPENT!!!

I’M TAKING THE CSAT NEXT YEAR PLEASE  
HELP ME!!!!

That’s what I thought.

* * *

**2018**

Daniel Choi on Coming Out: ‘Why keep hiding when all the people I love are in my corner?’ — New York Times

How is Daniel Choi Being Outed Through Irresponsible Journalism Still Possible in 2018? — Out Magazine

An Inside Look Into Daniel Choi’s Training Regimen: ‘Training alone keeps me focused’ — ESPN

10 Times Internet Darling Daniel Choi was the Bi-con We Needed — Buzzfeed

*

**WINTER|FEBRUARY**

Hyung. I’ve been typing and re-typing this message for  
the last ten minutes, but I just want you to know that  
I’m here for you.

You’re my best friend forever, and no matter what.

You’ve cheered me on for so long even when I didn’t  
think I deserved it.

(Especially when I didn’t think I deserved it.)

You always reminded me that I was enough, and I want  
to do the same for you now.

You’re amazing and deserve so much better than this  
shit show.

** Yeonjunnie-hyung **

gotta put some money in the swear jar bby </3  


Of all the things, that’s what you responded to… unbelievable.

Though I’m glad you’re feeling good enough to joke.

Also, you better not screenshot my compliments to send  
to Kai again. If you do, I might actually murder you this time.

**Yeonjunnie-hyung**

no way!!!!! these are only for my eyes!!!

I love you, Kang Taehyun <3 

our baby hyunnie 

baby hyunnie with the bestest compliments  
I luv u~

… I’m glad you’re feeling better, hyung.

**Yeonjunnie-hyung**

……yeah about that

haha

HA

still feel like shit

can I call you? 

I just wanna hear your voice

if I could hear you say that everything will be OK

I think that would help

Of course, hyung.  
  


—  
  


It’s strange, Taehyun thinks, to know that his current life path has been both the result of a bunch of arbitrary choices and chance happenings but also hard-won decisions forged out of his own sweat and tears and stamina.

Taehyun had had a blooming talent for chess that he honed so sharply and skillfully that he managed to stumble onto the international chess circuit and carve out a space for himself, chess background be damned, all because he had truly loved the game. Chess had a quiet intensity about it: the hyper-focused concentration; the quiet shuffle in rotating games; the way determination made itself tangible enough to hang heavy in the air; how no one player ever played the same, how someone always could try to surprise you, and how pure the adrenaline could be when Taehyun won a match.

As a child, Taehyun’s ambition had basically hand-delivered him to Daniel Choi: he had taken one look at Yeonjun at age nine and thought _I want to play as powerfully as him one day_ to _I’m going to play him one day and I’m going to beat him_ and Taehyun had thought nothing of it back then. But then Yeonjun had repeatedly bent over backwards to insert himself where he could into Taehyun’s life, and those thoughts turned into _I’m going to be worthy of being his equal_ to _I don’t understand why he keeps being so kind to me_ to _I want to be his good friend too_ to an almost daily thought of _why can’t I stop falling in love with him_. Choi Yeonjun had approached a 14-year-old Taehyun and had brought his junior into his orbit unintentionally and not let go; and now at age 16, of two years of being Choi Yeonjun’s best friend, Taehyun wanted to do all he could to stay.

Taehyun had been clinging to the idea of the life he thought he was destined to be living—university (even though South Korea referred to him as one of their top athletes), then military service (even though there were rumors he’d be excused from enlistment), then a job, then a wife, then children, and then work and family on rinse and repeat until he died. He had spent most of last year just trying to figure out what kind of life he wanted to live in that grind, all while Yeonjun patiently listened to him daily through their words on a screen.

(“What do you really want, Taehyun? Start from there,” Yeonjun had texted before. Taehyun hadn’t known how to answer.)

Yeonjun’s world, though, was unattainable in a way that reminded Taehyun that Taehyun had a Script he needed to follow. To Taehyun, Yeonjun’s world wasn’t supposed to be an option. Not a life of just-chess, not Yeonjun’s ridiculously strenuous training regimens, not an eternal fight to claw his way towards a rank of high-enough Grandmaster to prove he made the right choice to both his country and his family. And a sort-of rival-turned-love-interest was especially not an option. Not Daniel Choi, professional chess’s beloved poster boy and the second ever chess grandmaster of South Korean descent. But _especially_ not Yeonjun-hyung, Taehyun’s best friend and someone Taehyun could never really deny.

Taehyun’s phone suddenly vibrates, a custom ringtone Yeonjun had secretly recorded himself during one of their chess competitions in Greece: “Ayo! A-YO! Tyunhyunnietyun! Pick up, pick up, pick up!” on an obnoxious loop. Taehyun hates how much he loves it.

“Hey, hyung,” Taehyun says quietly as the audio call goes through.

“Hey,” Yeonjun practically whispers, his breath shaky.

“Before you say anything,” Taehyun says, closing his eyes as he begins, “I’m here. Like really, here. Always gonna be here, kind of here. Especially when something shitty is happening to my favorite hyung.”

Yeonjun practically wet hiccups into the receiver. “Favorite hyung, huh? What about Soobin-ssi?”

“You’re my favorite hyung,” Taehyun repeats. “He can be my favorite sunbaenim, I guess. And I’m literally never gonna take that back. Your title isn’t Grandmaster, it’s gonna be Kang Taehyun’s Favorite Hyung from now on if you want. I’m always gonna wanna be right here next to you. Always.”

Taehyun pauses then, lets himself break his own heart before he patches it back up again to say, “You know I love you, hyung. Right?”

Yeonjun sniffles and a tinny wet laugh echoes from out the phone. “I love you too, Taehyunnie. You know that too, right? I’m being dead serious right now.”

Taehyun breathes out a chuckle, “Of course, hyung. Of course.”

It almost feels like enough.

**FALL|OCTOBER**

“Did you know I used to get jealous of you sometimes?” Yeonjun asks over the phone one night.

Something between them shifted in the last eight months, when Taehyun had sort-of-not-really confessed, and Yeonjun had taken “always being there for each other” quite literally. Apparently it had meant a hard pivot to talking over the phone almost every day, constant text messages be damned. And Choi Yeonjun,  chess’s golden it-boy, softened and opened up in a way that Taehyun hadn’t ever seen in their last three years of friendship.

Taehyun rolls over onto his stomach, trying not to fall asleep. It’s been amazing how talking to his “favorite hyung” has helped with his insomnia. “Jealous how? You’re the one who’s never left the FIDE’s Top 100 List since the end of 2017.”

“But all I’ve ever done in my life is train for chess, though, you know?” Yeonjun laughs. “Like… remember when my family went to Korea for the summer? And I met Soobin-ssi at that raccoon cafe? You’re three whole years younger than me, but I spent the entire eight hours we hung out that day thinking about how cool you were. You had this whole life outside of chess, and all I had to offer was my title and my ranking.”

Taehyun snorts in an attempt to crack a joke, because Yeonjun’s voice has that watery, sentimental edge to it that he can’t handle lately. “I was cool? You were dressed head-to-toe in Balenciaga that day, hyung.”

Yeonjun, shocked, cackles evilly. “Oh my god, I totally forgot about that. That definitely sounds like something I would’ve done to try and impress you back then.”

Taehyun shuts his eyes, biting down the instinct of a sarcastic clapback to say something sincere instead. “You don’t have to do anything special to impress me, hyung.”

“Well, I know that _now_. But you know me. Still doesn’t mean I won’t try,” Yeonjun laughs.

“No, I mean… You don’t need to try with me, hyung. You just need to be you,” Taehyun hears his voice get more clipped in frustration over his inability to articulate… whatever this is. “When I look at you, hyung,” Taehyun says firmly, “I’m not thinking about your title, or your FIDE rating, or your rank. I’m not thinking about chess at all.”

The phone goes silent until Yeonjun lets out a nervous laugh. “You’re a better person than me then. I don’t even do that for myself.”

Taehyun swallows, trying to form words around a question he’s had for awhile now. “Hyung, if it’s that bad… do you ever regret playing chess?”

If Yeonjun sounded like he was close to tears seconds ago, his bright laugh this time around sounds nothing like that. “Oh, what? No way! I mean, I still love chess, you know? There’s something about playing the game that keeps this… fire in me going.

“I think… I love chasing after that fire,” Yeonjun says quietly. “I think I’m just getting a little more sentimental now that I’m getting older. I’ve seen what you need to sacrifice in order to be World Champion, and I don’t ever want that I think. My life isn’t what other people think of when they think of balance either, but I’m also pretty happy, so… nah, I love chess. I love what playing this game has given me. I just wonder sometimes who I would’ve been without it. You know?”

Taehyun closes his eyes again and lets himself float in the dark indigo void of being half-awake and half-asleep. Yeonjun-hyung will forgive him if he falls asleep on the line again; he always has.

“Whoever you would’ve been, hyung,” Taehyun mumbles, while his body succumbs to exhaustion, “I would’ve thought you were cool regardless.”

* * *

**2019**

Taehyun Kang’s Makes Long Awaited Senior Debut in Vienna – NBC Asian America

South Korean Chess Rivals Finally Face Off – BBC

Daniel Choi on Taehyun Kang: ‘He’s definitely one of my rivals, but more importantly, he’s one of my  
best friends, make no mistake’ – The Korea Times

*

**WINTER|JANUARY**

** Jjunihyungie ♡ **

D-1 until me and Kai see you again!!!!

best new year’s present ever

me and the fam just checked into the hotel

when do you get here :(

aww the puppy looks so sad

and by puppy I mean Kai not our dog

also, this goes without saying, but

if you go easy on me, I’ll kill you ^3^

<3333

I’m in a taxi now.

Finally found my stuff from baggage claim, took forever.

And the same goes for you, hyung.

You’re dead to me if you don’t bring your all to our game.

—

“What the actual hell was that about, Kang Taehyun?” Taehyun hears Yeonjun’s dampened shock on the other side of the door.

Taehyun pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. Damn them being good enough friends to give each other their second hotel room keys “in case of just because,” as Yeonjun had put it. Dammit.

“Leave it _alone_ , hyung,” Taehyun yells resignedly through the bathroom door where he’s sequestered himself in. He’s curled up against the door, his bare skin burning against the coolness of the wood. It’s one thing to have had a bad day, during a competition where the stakes were high. It’s another thing entirely to have the entire chess world await for the day you play the best friend you’re falling in love with, only for best friend to totally wipe the floor with you during said game and lower your chess rating to a devastating degree. _Fuck._

And the thing about Yeonjun, Taehyun knows, is that he _can't_ leave it alone, especially because it’s Taehyun and especially because of the changed nature of their friendship. They had always been close before, the only two Koreans of their level on the international chess circuit for literal years together. But there has always been something beneath it all, something unnamed, something Taehyun tried his very best to either deny or keep at bay. And if Taehyun didn’t know any better, he was starting to think that Yeonjun was doing all he could to drag that unnamed something into the spotlight.

“I’m not gonna leave it alone, Taehyun,” Yeonjun confirms for him through the door. “And I’m especially not gonna leave _you_ alone. Didn’t we say we’ll always be there for each other? I’m not just gonna leave, especially when something shitty is happening to my favorite dongsaeng, you know?”

Taehyun allows himself a small smile, lets himself hear Yeonjun’s coded “I love you” even if it’s not romantic. “Favorite dongsaeng? What about Kai?”

“Even over Kai,” Yeonjun agrees. “Just don’t tell him or he’ll kill me. Now. You wanna tell me what the hell just happened out there?”

“Hyung,” Taehyun sighs, exhaustion finally seeping out of every part of him. “Do you think I should quit chess?”

There’s silence on the other side of the door that extends so long that Taehyun wonders if Yeonjun left without him knowing.

“Like forever?” softly comes a smaller voice.

“Dunno,” Taehyun’s voice cracks, a year of pent-up tears starting to spill out now. “It’s just been so long and it’s been hard, you know? Like, it’s been four fucking years since I got my IM rating. And like… I was keeping my rating afloat before, which was hard enough, but I was _really_ trying this past year. But I feel like I’ve plateaued. My rating keeps fucking fluctuating, I always barely make 2400 let alone get close to 2500, like, what kind of fucking chess prodigy does that make me—” Taehyun presses his hands into his eyes to keep from crying.

“Did you know I started at SFL because I thought it would help?” Taehyun feels himself edging into hysteria. “I thought doing a language track would be a little less stressful than going ahead and focusing on the Korean CSAT like my dad wanted. And I thought it’d be good, like maybe I could go to an American university instead and I wouldn’t even need to take the CSAT. But I don’t know. I feel like I need to become a Grandmaster just to prove all this shit I went through was worth it, you know? But I keep feeling like I can never catch up, that maybe my peak was back when I was thirteen and I missed my chance already, and I’m about to start my third year of high school and it’s just _so_ much all the _fucking_ time, I’m—”

Taehyun takes a deep breath, re-centers himself in the memory of the last few hours. (And it’s devastating, how the memory of he and Yeonjun’s first official game against each other—which was something Taehyun had always wanted to cherish—hurt so much to revisit.) 

“I wanted to go all out when I played you, okay?” Taehyun confesses. “I wanted to prove I could win it all with just talent and risks alone. This morning, I decided to totally disregard the openings I had planned for you from like, a month ago. I didn’t play my style today, tried all these moves and tricks that weren’t me at all and it was a fucking disaster, wasn’t it? You probably thought—”

“Taehyun,” comes Yeonjun’s strained voice through the door. “Taehyun, stop.”

And then again, now gentler: “Will you open the door? I want to see you. But… only if you think that would help. And only if you want to,” Yeonjun amends.

Taehyun slowly moves to unlock the door from his spot on the bathroom floor. He opens it hesitantly and peeks out into the room from the opened crack, only to be met with the sight of a disheveled and exhausted looking Yeonjun sitting down across from him. The way Yeonjun’s eyes get watery when Taehyun opens the door all the way makes Taehyun think he can’t look much better. 

“Fuck,” Yeonjun whispers, “Taehyun…”

“I fucked up!” Taehyun interrupts, practically crawling across the hotel room floor to hide his face in Yeonjun’s shoulder. “I’m sorry! I ruined it!”

“If we weren’t both crying right now,” he hears Yeonjun sniffle above him, “I would hit you, because what you said just now was stupid for real. You didn’t ruin anything.”

“I’m still sorry,” Taehyun grumpily grunts into Yeonjun’s sweater.

In literally any other circumstance, Taehyun would hate everything about this. Taehyun hates crying when he loses and he hates crying in front of people in general; but being able to cry openly in front of Yeonjun in this moment is simultaneously a comfort and a nightmare. His heart is going crazy and Taehyun’s honestly not trying to examine that too closely, but he thinks it has less to do with the emotional intimacy of it all and more from the fact that Yeonjun has leaned his head on his, and has taken Taehyun into a tight embrace.

“Taehyun,” he feels Yeonjun’s fingers gently stroke his hair back, “Do you still want this? Chess, I mean. Like… this is gonna sound dumb, but close your eyes and tell me you still feel the same way about chess like you did when we first met, three years ago.”

Taehyun closes his eyes like Yeonjun says. Tries to think of a tiny Taehyun, the one his uncle gave a chess set to because Taehyun thought it was the prettiest gift in his haul of business trip souvenirs. The smaller Taehyun that took a look at teenage Yeonjun and was mesmerized by both the swagger and the skill in his blitz games. The younger Taehyun, one who was awarded an International Master title at age 13 on the edge of burnout, who thought the worst thing in the world was that he looked like a baby in the picture Naver used for their article about him.

To Taehyun’s relief, there’s no hatred for chess when he lets the pressure and the anxiety fade. But at the same time, there’s no spark. There’s nostalgia and a somewhat dull gratitude for what chess has given him. But gone is the addictive haze of ambition, the headiness of determination, or the elation of winning. No fire, like the one that Yeonjun said keeps his passion for chess alive, and keeps Yeonjun happy and sated to keep going onward. Instead, all there is is just a lukewarm kind of emptiness.

Taehyun succumbs to what that realization means and opens his eyes to Yeonjun staring worriedly down at him. “Hyung? Maybe it’s time for me to take a break.”

—

** Jjunihyungie ♡**

I’m proud of you

So fuckin proud of you

I’m always gonna think you’re amazing you know

we’re still best friends outside of chess

and I know you’re gonna need some space  
to figure some stuff out but

you better not be a stranger

Of course not, hyung.

* * *

**2020**

Taehyun Kang on the Goodness of Just Taking a Break: ‘I needed to figure out what I really wanted’ – Teen Vogue Korea

[Article] Kang Taehyun Postpones Taking College Entrance Exam; Is This a Return to Chess? – Naver

Daniel Choi Breaks Silence on Chess Rival’s Hiatus on Twitter: ‘I support Taehyun Kang 100% and  
I’ve been so incredibly proud of him this past year’ – ESPN

[News] February Getaway? Daniel Choi and His Family Spotted at Gimhae International Airport – Daum News

*

**WINTER|JANUARY**

** Jjunihyungie ♡**

kang taehyun!!!!!

giving you strength!!!!

you can do this!!!

I believe in you!!!!!!!!

you're so close!!!

** Jjunihyungie ♡**

merry christmas!!!

hope you celebrate today!!

(Idk if you’re free from school yet so)

** Jjunihyungie ♡**

happy new year!!!!

me and Kai miss you 

**Jjunihyungie ♡**

Are you going to see your grandparents for Seollal?

….I’m so late, but thank you for all your messages, hyung. 

I was able to finish the semester OK, although finals  
week was hell as usual.  


I feel like I just slept through all the holidays though.

And yeah, I’m at grandparents’ house in Suwon now!  
I’m sorry I replied so late… :(

…ily. Send my best to your family this Seollal.

**Jjunihyungie ♡**

aww they’ll love that, they love you

and ily2!!!! <3333

actually wait ily more than they do!!!

I actually thought these texts were from Kai at first…

And it’s fine when it’s Kai because he’s Kai and he can  
get away with being cutesy, but when they’re actually from you…

**Jjunihyungie ♡**

damn he hits you up that much???

I’m gonna tell him to back off

you’re mine

You’re so greasy.

**Jjunihyungie ♡**

you know you love it <3

No </3

**WINTER|FEBRUARY**

“Hyung, what are you even doing here?” Taehyun asks incredulously at his friend in front of him, as the whispers of his classmates fade into the background.

“What, your favorite hyung can’t throw you a little surprise event?” Yeonjun grins, holding out a bouquet of flowers into Taehyun’s face. The bouquet’s a little wild, with fern leaves and tiny forget-me-nots sticking out from the white carnations and the powder blue hydrangeas sticking together. Yeonjun’s bouquet looks nothing like the primly formed globes of flowers that his other classmates have. Instead, Yeonjun’s bouquet is like him, beautiful and a little sprawling, growing out of confines Taehyun doesn’t think Yeonjun’s ever felt in his life. Taehyun gently takes the flowers into his hands, ignoring both the high-pitched squeals of the girls that are boring holes into Yeonjun’s face with their staring, as well as the general vicinity of his family members and Soobin-hyung, who Taehyun’s sure are wearing identical shit-eating grins.

“Thank you, hyung,” Taehyun throws him a bright smile, the one netizens have designated as his “cheer up” smile and the one he knows is secretly Yeonjun’s personal favorite.

“Not a problem for my favorite dongsaeng,” Yeonjun smiles back as a tell-tale flush climbs up his neck. Taehyun refuses to think it’s cute.

Yeonjun reaches out and ruffles Taehyun’s hair gently and Taehyun catches his hyung’s teary wistful gaze as he says, “Our handsome little Tyunnie, all grown up now.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m glad I let Soohyun-noona do my hair today or you would’ve been unbearable about how I didn’t clean up for our pictures together, even though you didn’t tell _me_ that you were coming to _my_ early high school graduation,” Taehyun rolls his eyes, though he’s unable to hold back his grin. “You didn’t even tell me you were coming back to Korea! Daum News had to tell me!”

“I just wanted it to be a surprise,” Yeonjun pouts immediately, sulky. “I wanted to support you, you know? For something that’s not chess-related for once?”

“Stop looking so sad. “I’m happy you’re here, OK?”

“Okay,” Yeonjun murmurs, a corner of his mouth quirking back up in a smile. “And…” Yeonjun’s face scrunches up, looking unsure again, “I had a proposition for you too, depending on how you answer this next."

Yeonjun takes a deep breath and then asks him, “Did you figure it out? If you still wanted to try playing?”

Taehyun immediately winces, caught off guard. “Hyung, I… I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about playing again since I put in my all into trying to graduate a year early.”

Yeonjun nods as if he expected as much. “I was hoping you’d say that, actually? I’ve been talking to my family and your family, and we… Well, _ I _ thought—just, what would you think of us training together? Like coming back with me and my family to the U.S. after our trip here? Just this spring and summer, for the next few months. Really get you both physically and mentally prepared for competitions in the late fall, if you wanted to make those, so we could go back to competing together next year.”

Taehyun blinks, stunned, because Choi Yeonjun trains with no one, repeat: Choi Yeonjun has _only_ ever trained alone, “Hyung, that’s already so generous, I—wait. Wait? You talked to my family already?”

“I wanted to see if they would even let you before I asked you! It was just more efficient that way. And uh, they said yes, by the way. But no pressure, obviously!” Yeonjun laughs nervously as his words get faster and faster, and he rubs the back of his neck. “The decision is still yours alone. I think training together would be good though! Some of the top players train together too. I mean, most people trying to reach a level like Grandmaster usually dedicate themselves to chess full time; the fact you were still trying to balance Korean high school and chess was kind of ridiculous, you know that right?

“But then again, you _did_ just complete two years of high school just so you could graduate early. So maybe you actually are a little ridiculous,” Yeonjun scrunches his face at Taehyun, winking.

Taehyun rolls his eyes even deeper this time. “Why are you complaining? Wasn’t the point for me to graduate early and get back to you faster?”

“…get back to me?”

Taehyun feels his ears begin to burn and looks down at his bouquet. Fuck. What a slip up. Anything would be better than looking at Yeonjun’s face right now. Taehyun clears his throat and says, “I know I haven’t been a good friend recently, so…”

“Hey, wait,” Yeonjun says softly, stepping forward and crouching down slightly to peer into Taehyun's face and make the eye contact Taehyun is so desperately trying to avoid. “When you told me you were gonna try to do an accelerated year, I knew you were gonna be busy. Not answering my texts doesn’t mean you’re a bad friend, Taehyun, OK?

“And,” Yeonjun’s neck gets even redder, “I missed you too. I’m not trying to guilt trip you into training with me. Just… I wanna play with you again, you know? I want us to chase after our dream again, but together this time. What do you think?”

Taehyun knows that his block isn’t going to be a fairytale fix. His passion for  chess isn’t going to erupt after two weeks of following Yeonjun’s training schedule. There is always the chance that, after pausing his personal life and working his ass off to graduate one whole year early, Taehyun’s ambition for chess may lay dormant instead of reigniting itself.

But Taehyun thinks of his family, who’s always been cautiously supportive of his career, but already gave Yeonjun the green light so that Taehyun can train with him in the States. He thinks of the Choi family, whose beloved son and brother is technically Taehyun’s competitor, but who opened up their hearts and home any way. He thinks of Soobin-hyung, who still worked his part-time job while juggling his second year of university, but came home every other Saturday for a year to give Taehyun his old notes and help him study. Taehyun sees Yeonjun’s bouquet in his hands and looks at the little fern leaves reaching towards the gymnasium lights, and then thinks about a life without confines. Maybe Taehyun didn’t have to follow the Script after all; maybe Yeonjun’s world was something Taehyun could both want _and_ have.

What a good thing then that, while Taehyun’s never been able to really deny Yeonjun anything, whatever Yeonjun asked of him anyway was usually something Taehyun wanted to do in the first place.

“Okay, hyung.” Taehyun finally looks back up at his hyung and smiles. “This time, together.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here was the prompt for the fic fest: _Taehyun is an introverted prodigy chess player who meets outgoing Yeonjun, the player who's been trained since birth and is one of the best. In the game they're rivals, but out of it they're slowly becoming best friends... and maybe more._
> 
> Fun fact: I chose this prompt because chess Grandmasters have to be incredibly fit to be able to tackle the physical stress of literally competing for hours. This fic initially was gonna be Workout Bros that Play Chess Taejun, but that... didn't happen because I love writing about emotions apparently.  
> 
> 
> (cry with me abt txt on [twt](https://twitter.com/syubsoob) if you want)


End file.
